"I think we should take a break. Our leader's mind is wandering off somewhere right now." Mark hears Lucas beside him, breaking him from his trance. There's just so many things running in his mind. One, his father. Two, his brother. And now, Chelsie. Ever since that night she admitted that she's falling for Jeno, he just can't seem to focus on anything. He's bothered by it when he knows he shouldn't be.

He turns to his friends and forces a smile. "I'm listening. Go on," he says, trying to carry on with their discussion again for the regional debate competition which is in a few weeks.

"As I was saying, we need one more member to join our team," Jungwoo suggests, gauging their reaction.

Hendery eyes him suspiciously. "I think I know who you want to join us. It's Chelsie, right?"

Jungwoo hesitates for a moment before speaking again. "Lucas said so himself. We need someone like Chelsie in our team."

"This isn't because of your sudden interest in her, is it?" Xiaojun butts in with a smirk.

Before anyone can speak again, there is a knock on the door, making them all stop to look at the person who just entered. "Were you expecting someone else?" Renjun asks with his furrowed brows.

Yangyang chuckles on his seat. "You're just right on time. We're actually debating on whether we should recruit Chelsie to join our team."

Renjun falls silent as he reaches them. Then, he finally speaks, "But you didn't even let Elexa join us because Mark wanted us to be all guys."

Xiaojun nods. "Exactly."

Mark shakes his head, sighing. He finally found an excuse not to recruit Chelsie because if he does, it just might make it harder for him to deal with whatever he's feeling for her. "Guys, we'll just stay as we are. No more new members. Besides, the competition is around the corner. We don't have time to train newbies."

He sees Jungwoo sulking on the corner. But he thinks this is for the best for everyone. Jeno and Chelsie like each other. As a friend, what he can do now is to support them and not complicate things between them.

****

It's the third night he's been sleeping in his friends' flat. He's just grateful that Lucas and Jungwoo let him come and sleep in their lounge area. He doesn't complain anymore because he knows he's bothering them too much already.

"I saw Jeno and Chelsie together in the library earlier," Jungwoo suddenly says, catching Mark's attention.

"Dude, are you stalking them?" Lucas asks teasingly.

Jungwoo frowns at him. "What? No. I just happened to be there as well. I didn't go up to them obviously. I don't want to ruin their moment."

Lucas chuckles out loud. "Right. Way to set some boundaries." Then, he turns to Mark who remains silent writing on his notebook. "So when do you plan on making up with your brother?"

He pauses writing and turns to Lucas. "Can't say. Maybe never?"

"I didn't know you can be cold-hearted, Mark," Jungwoo comments, munching on his snack.

He ignores his remark and continues to busy himself with writing. Just then, he feels someone nudging him on the side, disturbing him again. He turns to his side and sees Jungwoo looking at him. "So you and Chelsie are pretty close, right?"

"Yeah they are," Lucas suddenly butts in, wiggling his brows at him.

"Is she telling you anything?" Jungwoo continues to question. "Like if she likes Jeno back?"

Lucas puts an arm around Jungwoo's shoulder. "Are you going to take a shot at her? I thought you said you're backing away? Mark's not even-"

"Alright, I think we all need to sleep now." Mark gestures them to go away but he sees Jungwoo looking at him zealously. Before he can even speak again, a phone rings and Lucas jumps up from his seat.

"Our order is here!" Jungwoo exclaims.

"You ordered again?" he asks them wide-eyed.

"We're always hungry in this house," Lucas says matter-of-factly. "Let's go! We need a hand."

He doesn't argue anymore and just gets up from his seat and follows the two as they step out of their flat. When they reach the lobby area to meet the delivery guy, he suddenly notices his brother approaching from the entrance. He's about to look away but he doesn't fail to see the bruise under his eye, causing him to worry.

Taking a breath, he wills himself to look away to avoid having eye contact with him. He's pretty sure Taeyong has already seen him there with his friends, but he doesn't dare look at him. Instead, he turns his back and helps Lucas and Jungwoo carry their order, which is apparently Chinese takeaway.

When they finally reach back their flat, he goes back to writing again, trying to get rid of his worry for his brother. He probably got into a fight again in a pub. He just knows Taeyong too well. Whenever he's stressed or has problems, he resorts to drinking and therefore, unconsciously getting himself into trouble.

The only time he stopped doing all those was when he got into a serious relationship with Zia. But even that didn't last long. That's why he swore to himself that he won't get into a relationship himself not until he knows that his brother has someone who will look after him in his worst state.

****

The next day, Mark marches towards the library after his first class just to avoid everyone, mostly his brother. He just wants to be alone the past days to think and reflect. No matter how much he hates his brother for what he did, he's still his brother. After seeing the bruise on Taeyong's face last night, he gets worried about him again.

He sighs, flipping the book he's reading. Nothing is registering in his mind but he just pretends to read anyway. Otherwise, someone might see him and suspect that he's just there to chill.

As he turns another page, his eyes catch sight of Chelsie entering inside the library. He ducks his head down and hides behind the book he's holding. Slowly, he takes a peek at her direction again and suddenly sees an unexpected person tailing her. He watches as Chelsie gets surprised when Jungwoo taps her shoulder. He wonders if his friend will actually confess to her.

Shaking his head, he tries not to be bothered by it. He's already too preoccupied and he can't let this one totally consume him. He takes a breath, trying hard not to look towards that direction again. But his eyes continue to involuntarily glance towards the far left side to which he now notices to be empty. Chelsie and Jungwoo are no longer in sight.

He doesn't even want to know anymore so he forces himself to just read again. Not long after, someone takes the seat next to him. He ignores it but when he hears Kiera's voice, he snaps his head to his side. "Kiera, what are you doing here?"

She shrugs. "Just wondering how are you going with your feelings for a certain someone."

"Not again, Kiera." He grunts, preparing to leave, but she stops him by the arm. "What is it now?"

"She's over there, just in case you want to go sit with her." She flashes him a smile before waving goodbye to him.

He doesn't plan on going up to her but he looks towards the direction where Kiera told him. On the corner, he sees Chelsie infront of the photocopy machine alone. He makes his way towards the door and finally lets out a sigh of relief.

Just as he's about to take a turn, he hears someone calling out to him from behind. "Mark!" The voice sounds very familiar to him now that he doesn't even need to turn to see who she is. "Mark, wait!"

He gulps down to moisten his dry throat before turning to face her. "Hey, Chels! What's up?"

She catches her breath as she reaches him. "Have you got your notes from earlier? Can I just check it? I think I missed something from the lecture."

"Uh, yeah. It's in my locker, though."

"Great. I'm going that way as well," she says.

That's how he ends up walking with her to the building where his locker is. As they walk past the hallway, he notices the presence of his brother from afar. He's not with his friends though. Instead, he's with Chelsie' sister, which suddenly confuses him. "Is your sister visiting you today?" He turns to Chelsie, who narrows her eyes at him, obviously not following.

"What do you mean?" She asks.

He lifts his chin up to point towards the front. "She's right there with my brother."

Chelsie follows his line of vision and instantly opens his mouth to speak. "Oh, she's taking the entrance exam today. But I wonder why she's with your brother. She messaged me saying the exam was over an hour ago."

"Really? So she's going to study here now too?"

She nods, smiling. Then, her face turns serious again. "Does your brother like my sister?"

He pauses, not really knowing what to respond. He knows that Taeyong has been worried about Traze for a while now, but he hasn't really mentioned anything about liking her. "I'm not sure. I'm still not speaking to him so I don't really know."

"Right. I'm sorry to say this, but if your brother likes Traze, I'm telling you now that he has no chance. My sister is head over heels for Prince Jaehyun," she states.

He chuckles, remembering those times Taeyong kept on calling her sister munter for no reason. "Don't worry. I don't think he likes her that way."

She suddenly squints. "You make it sound like your brother is out of her league."

You're out of my league, Chelsie, he wants to say, but he internally battles with himself to not let those words come right out of his mouth. "N-no, that's not true. I'm sorry that came out wrong."

"I know. I'm kidding, Mark." She lets out a chuckle. "I didn't know you can be cute when you stutter."

Her words suddenly hit him. He knows she didn't mean that, but hearing her say it brought an instant feeling of jitter to him. He hasn't recovered from that moment yet, when they finally reach his locker. He gives her his notes so she thanks him and proceeds to her next class. Meanwhile, he's just left there, finally realizing the conflicting emotion he's been feeling for months now. I might have seriously fallen for you, Chelsie Collins.